Join the Club
Introduction A new group of "heroes" are introduced, and want to be included in Fulkherth's Supercharging! Little do they know that something is seriously wrong with Dr. Fulkherth... Part 1: Join the Club “I’m just saying… everybody is doing it. I mean EVERYBODY.” Miss Direction looked across the table at the faces of her teammates. None of them seemed particularly excited about the idea of getting supercharged. She bit back a sigh of frustration. This was her fault. She had always told them they were super enough. She was the one always saying that it wasn’t the powers that made a hero heroic. Now for the first time wished she had time travel powers. Just so she could tell her past self to shut up. The Cosmic Cafe was unusually empty. Once upon a time, this was THE hangout spot for heroes. Now? Most of the heroes were out on missions, fighting villains and saving lives. But not us, Miss Direction thought with a tinge of bitterness. Not these days. It all started with Henry the Hammer and his team. They had gotten so much press, so much success. It wasn’t long before every retired or underpowered hero had jumped on board Doctor Fulkherth’s Supercharge bandwagon. Which meant all the jobs went with them. Miss Direction decided to try again. “Guys, we have to try something. And the Supercharge system, it’s not like you can argue with the results.” Allergen blew his nose loudly. “Look” he added, after tucking away his tissue “I just don’t see the point. We’re already established pros. We’re the real deal. We don’t need some fad medical treatment to make us better heroes. You've always said so yourself!” “I know what I said!” Miss Direction snapped back irritably. “Things have changed! Don’t you see that?” She stood up, nearly knocking over her soup. “Look at us! Look at what we’re doing! We’re just sitting here, waiting for work. But there isn’t any? You know why? Because everyone wants supercharged heroes now! And we’re not supercharged! Prism coughed nervously, his mashed potatoes changing color as he did so. “Um… Look, I think… I think maybe Miss Direction is kinda right…” “Of course I am-“ “…and kinda wrong. I mean, um, we should check it out. Maybe there’s something good for us there… but… um…” Mirror Man rolled his eyes. “Come on Prism. Get to the point-” “Purple. It’s… everyone who comes out of there… I know you guys can’t see it… but…” Prism looked around, fighting his shyness. “Everyone who comes out there is changed all purple. I can see it. I know colors. You know…?” “I don’t know Prism. I mean… you kinda have a habit of seeing weird colors on things.” Prism’s mashed potatoes turned an angry red as he glared at Mirror Man. “I saw purple. I did.” Miss Direction knew an opportunity when she saw one. “Okay then team. It’s settled” “It is?” “Yes. If Prism thinks something is suspicious, then it’s up to us to investigate.” Allergen looked like he wanted to argue, But a fresh sneezing fit interrupted his attempt. “And” she added, “If all is in order, I think we can all agree to give the Supercharge procedure a try. Right gang?” Miss Direction stood up and headed for the door. She knew better than to give her team a chance to argue. Part 2: Rejection “That… that was… different...” It was the third time that Miss Direction had stated the obvious. And just like the first two times, the statement went unanswered. They had arrived at Doctor Fulkherth’s lab. Miss Direction had fully expected to find nothing out of sorts, and to use the obvious lack of issues as incentive for her team to receive the Supercharge treatment. Things had not gone quite as planned. The lab was closed. Not just for the night, but quite obviously shut down. Large boxes could be seen through the windows. Strange looking equipment was haphazardly piled up near the door. A large hand written sign stapled to the glass door read “GO AWAY, FOOLS!” They were just about to do so when the door swung open, seemingly of its own accord. Despite Prism’s insistence that the office was glowing with dangerous green energy, the team of heroes entered the building. Things degenerated quickly from there. “Money?! You come here offering me money! You think that powers are simply things to be bought and sold?!! Is that what you think?! I have supercharged the superheroes and now…. And NOW!! Oh yes… Yes..." At that point Doctor Fulkherth’s rants devolved into barely audible mutterings. After a moment, the Doctor’s scantily clad assistant Trixie whispered quickly. “You should just go. Just…. You should go. Please…” Miss Direction choked back her confusion; it had taken an absurd amount of energy to get her team here. And if they didn’t get the treatment… if they didn’t get supercharged… “I don’t understand. You’ve already performed this procedure for almost every superhero in town. I mean, it’s just four of us-“ Apparently, this was NOT what Fulkherth wanted to hear. “Four? Is that what you think? You think four is nothing? Did you know that four is the number of the devil in China? Did you know that Jupiter has four moons?! You think four is as easy as 1,2,3,4? It isn’t! Four is four more than I have accounted for! Now GO!” The Doctor draped his arms around a large piece of equipment covered by a tarp and began sobbing and giggling. Feeling altogether confused, Miss Direction turned to her team as she lead them back to the diner. “Guys. I think… I think something is really, really wrong. And…” Miss Direction swallowed her pride. Fulkherth was clearly not right. And if that was connected at all with the Supercharge experiments... which involved almost every hero in the city… “...I think we’re going to need to get some help on this one.” Category:Storyline